Hey, where are my big men?
OK, late Sunday night, and a few things to mention. Let’s go series by series before you chatter away in the comments section…
We’ll start in the East, where there haven’t been a lot of close series…
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Detroit (4) vs. Orlando (0): Anyone surprised? Anyone? Orlando was really exposed as a shallow, overmatched team that needs to get a lot better. And Detroit basically got four intra-squad scrimmages to tune up for the second round.
Cleveland (3) vs. Washington (0): Much like they’ve done all season, the Cavs have sort of ho-hummed their way past a depleted Was Wizards. I’m still not convinced that Gilbert won’t play tomorrow night.
New Jersey (3) vs. Toronto (1): This Nets team has been confounding all season, playing hard one night, looking like they’d rather be at the Bing the next. But during the Playoffs, at least during games not the afternoon after Vince hosted a massive party, the Nets have been great.
Chicago (4) vs. Miami (0): What I thought would happen to the Heat during last year’s Playoffs happened this year. The Heat had no fire at all, and the Bulls took advantage of every mismatch.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Golden State (3) vs. Dallas (1): Let’s start by giving the Warriors some credit. Last night they took everything Dallas could dish out, hung in there and then stomped the Mavs at the end. What happens now that the Warriors have the pressure on them? And what will it take for Avery Johnson to figure out that when he goes small against the Warriors, he loses? It’s pretty simple, right? I’m not a coach or anything, but check out the combined minutes played by Dallas centers last night. Wonder why the Warriors kept driving right to the rim?
And funny that Charles Barkley has decided to take on the Bay Area, since the Chuckster featured in the great NBA Superstars video, “The Warrior.” For a brief musical interlude, click here.
Phoenix (3) vs. Los Angeles (1): Kobe and Lamar are great and all, but good grief do the rest of the Lakers stink. Phil Jackson looks like he’s already making a mental list of things to pack to take to Montana for the summer.
San Antonio (2) vs. Denver (1): The Nuggets did their running and gunning thing in Game One, and since then the Spurs have put the smack down. And I loved Robert Horry’s explanation for how he stole a ball from JR Smith: “This is a time when you can go out and use your knowledge. I have been in the league for 15 years, and you tend to read situations because you have seen situations. I can read a situation where someone might inbound the ball and be a little lackadaisical and I have been watching J.R. play, and he does the same move every time, so I was able to get my hands on one.”
Utah (2) vs. Houston (2): The most competitive series of the first sound has also been the most gruesome, thanks to Houston’s now infamous “only four guys can score” evening.
I’ve slept on those last two series a little, but we get a double-header with them tomorrow night, and I’ll be tuned in.
Your turn…who’s going to take the chip home?
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it would be SO fun to watch
flip inherits a team that’s a defensive monster, gets em to play better offense, goes on a record tear throughout the season, but he’s still a questionable coach in the playoffs w/ adjustments.
aj inherits a strong offensive team, gets em to play some defense, goes on a tear throughout the season, and now he doesn’t make the right adjustments, instead playing the way nellie wants him to play. now i don’t even know what identity dallas has. they’re not a good enough defensive team, and w/ diop, damp, buckner, george, they end up 4-on-5 on offense. dirk’s somehow gone from mvp back to being SOFT and weak minded like 2 yrs ago. he’s still mvp though if it’s regular season award. if it was playoffs, b-diddy deserves it! but has there ever been an mvp who received his award AFTER he was eliminated?
The question remains why Dirk is struggling that much though, I still believe it was a mistake to cut his minutes as much as Avery Johnson did in the final games of the regular season. Nowitzki tends to be a bit rusty when he’s had extensive time off and at his best when he plays a lot of minutes.
But if he does end up getting MVP and the Mavs lose the next game, it’s gonna be a rough next season for him, just imagine how much he’ll get ridiculed every game.
Utah/Houston will slaughter GSW.
Excellent reference to “The Warrior” video…I remember watching that at Summer Basketball camp my freshmen year.
david stern should make another adjustment. 10 teams from the west and 6 from the east. I red that in an article somewhere and it kinda makes sense. you know cuzz the east sucks ‘n all
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